1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus for controlling input/output of a scanner/printer or the like, which is a combination of an image scanner and a printer. The invention relates also to an image processing system constructed using this apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Networking has made great progress in recent years and large-scale networks in which a LAN is deployed throughout the entirety of an intelligent building are now being set up. Furthermore, a nationwide network in which LAN's are connected directly by public switched telephone networks and sophisticated information networks such as ISDN's are being established.
These networks are making it possible for a user at one location to utilize a computer on another floor or in another building and enable a host computer in Osaka to be utilized from Tokyo. This in turn makes it possible for a printer server to be utilized over an extremely wide range rather than in the comparatively narrow range heretofore.
In order for a printer to be shared as a common resource of a conventional network of the abovementioned kind, the printer is connected to the network via a printer server. However, a scanner for reading in an image is not shared.
In a situation in which inputs are made utilizing a scanner, all of the input data is handled as bitmap data. Consequently, if a scanner were to be adopted as a common resource on a network, data that has been read would pass through the network and the amount of data involved would not only lower the efficiency of the network but would also necessitate a large storage area when the data is handled by a file server that is managing network files. Further, since the input data is handled as bitmap data, even a read original that is text cannot be edited as text.
Accordingly, a problem encountered in the prior art is that even if a scanner/printer having a scanner and a printer is connected to a network, the scanner cannot be utilized effectively as a shared resource of the network unless the image data read in by the scanner is subjected to appropriate processing.